Growing!!!

Well, I feel huge! Mark and I had to go buy a few new shirts for me this past Friday because my belly kept peeking out of my old shirts--just a bit problematic!

Here's a pic of my hugeness:

33 weeks

On the plus side, we had a check-up last Thursday and everything looks really good--including my measurements and weight gain. The little guy/gal is super active and at times hurts me a bit with his/her stretching/aerobics but I have to smile every time I feel the movement. The stronger it gets, the closer I know we are to meeting our little one!

Showered with love

Thanks to our wonderful family and friends, Mark and I are feeling much more ready for baby to arrive! We had baby showers two weekends in a row this month.

The first shower was in Saginaw on September 13th and was with my family, close family friends, and my girlfriends. My mom, Jill Gall, and Jessica Eng hosted the shower at the Davenport Grill. It was so much fun seeing everyone and the hostesses really outdid themselves. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day!

With the soon-to-be grandmas

With Jessica and Jill

My college girls

A few more pics from the day:

In these picture you see some of my favorite people (although everyone that was there could definitely be put in that category!), how pretty the tables looked, and the adorable favors that Jill made--they said "Celebrating Elizabeth's Bun in the Oven" and inside each was a homemade (and extremely delicious!) sweet bun.

The second shower was with all of my Purdue friends and was held on September 20th at my advisor, Stacey Connaugton's home. She and my dear friend Jennifer Linvill planned a great day. They used the bee theme from our nursery for the invites and desserts. They were even able to talk some of the guys into attending (I think having football games playing on the TVs in the basement and the beer helped a bit!).

Jenn, Stacey and I

With Katie, Eileen, Kari, Mark, and Porter (Jenn's son)

Yummy treats!--Brenda Berkelaar actually made the cookies!

A BIG thank you to everyone who joined the festivities and who made both of these days so special. I definitely feel blessed to have such an amazing support system and am so thankful that Grace/Graff will be entering such a circle of love!

It's the little things...

We had a check up today and all is well with both baby and mom. I'm measuring just where I should be and the heartbeat is strong. The good news is the doctor thinks that the baby has found his/her way into position. The baby had been breach and traverse at previous appointments so this was welcome news. Granted, he/she can still move but we're glad that for at least now he/she has figured out the direction it should be. It was really fun because the doctor pointed out which body parts are where (or at least his best guest). I have been able to feel a little lump on my left side--turns out that little lump is Grace/Graff's booty!

In other news, Mark and I started Lamaze classes Monday. It was...interesting. I think it will be informative but we are definitely not good students. We were supposed to be practicing relaxing and moms were supposed to have their eyes shut. Coaches were then supposed to gently caress our face moving down our arms to our finger tips. The teacher told us to think of a happy place or focus on an object. I had a nice picture in my head of the view Mark and I had of the Eiffel Tower from a little cafe in Paris when we were there last year...until Mark whispered "Pizza Sam's" to me. Sam's is the local pizza joint in Alma that Mark is obsessed with (I admit--I do crave it to!) but not exactly what I'll want to be thinking about during my contractions. Well those two little words got me started giggling and then every time he touched my face I laughed harder. By the end I had tears streaming down my face and I just could not pull myself together. I'm sure the others in class loved us. Oh well, it was fun!

My thoughts vs. Mark's thoughts

One of the things they talked about in lamaze was how dads could really help the moms through their pregnancy by doing various tasks around the house. I had to smile when the teacher was talking about this because Mark really has been a blessing through all the ups and downs of pregnancy. Here's just one example--last week we were walking Daisy around our neighborhood when I noticed that my shoe had come untied. I let out a huge sigh because it's so hard for me to bend down right now. Mark, without saying a thing and without me asking, handed me Daisy's leash and bent down and tied my shoe. It was the smallest gesture but meant so much to me.

It truly is the little things that make life so good!